@JamesClear James, I'm impressed by your ability to take simple words and spin profound new phrases that are dense with value. I would ask how you do it. But I'm guessing you'd say thoughtful action: steadily carving down ideas to their core components. Your tweet is Picasso's last bull: pic.twitter.com/qs1J4TAaP8
To master the creative process, give yourself permission to create junk. This is one of the many things I learned diving into everything @jamesclear has published on creativity and building a writing habit. Here's a thread of his best articles, tweets, and podcast appearances:
Speaking of Jay, his podcast Creative Elements is definitely the rare joint Rookie of the Year / MVP podcast. The episode where he picks @JamesClear’s brain about his writing process is 🤩 for aspiring writers. jayclouse.com/podcast/james-…
Thoughts on "going viral". A short thread...
Don’t write to sound smart. Write to be useful. If you’re useful over a long time period, you will end up looking smart anyway.
For years, I would force myself to write at least 25 possible titles for each article. Almost without fail, the best ideas came later in the list. The lesson: Don’t stop early. Ideas that are easy to think of are obvious. The good ideas come after the obvious ones are gone.
I’m usually terrified people will hate my writing. My only saving grace is how I direct that fear. I use it to motivate me to find better ideas and share more useful examples rather than allowing it to prevent me from sharing at all. Fear is the gas pedal, not the brake.
Good revisions make great writing. Don't try to write twice as well. Simply write it twice, and you'll write well.
Conversation is a first draft of your thoughts. Writing is a way to edit your thinking. twitter.com/BarrettABrooks…
Writing is the antidote to confusion.
The trick to writing well is to... - take long sentences and make them short - take confusing ideas and make them clear - take unrelated concepts and make them related ...without losing the main idea in the process.
Imagine that you get six months with no outside demands or responsibilities. Your only job is to find your ideal spot to think and write. Where do you go and what does it look like?
Many people assume they are bad at writing because it is hard. This is like assuming you are bad at weightlifting because the weight is heavy. Writing is useful because it is hard. It's the effort that goes into writing a clear sentence that leads to better thinking.
3 tips for better writing: 1) Double the examples. 2) Half the words. 3) One big idea.
My writing approach: I rarely have good ideas. To overcome this limitation, I think about one topic (e.g. habits) for an unreasonable amount of time. Then, after lots of reading and research, I revise, revise, revise until only the best stuff remains. It’s slow, but it works!
I think our grandchildren will look back at Atomic Habits by @JamesClear the same way we revere How to Win Friends or the 7 Habits. Instant classic, and relevant for 100+ years.
If you think you can learn a lot from reading books, try writing one.
Writing publicly is deliberate practice for the mind. - immediate feedback - audience acts as a coach - potential for criticism forces you to pay attention to the details These forces naturally encourage you to improve. All you need is the courage to keep showing up.
Can’t wait for 11/16 and for all of your to read it 📕📕📕❤️ it’s going to help a lot of people I can feel it pic.twitter.com/gvMG3aGWY6
A little sneak peak into Twelve and a Half 📚 pic.twitter.com/NMLByhuenk
Substack reveals that the writing market is inefficient (some writers are now making 10x what they were at legacy institutions) VC will experience the same thing: value capture will more precisely reflect value creation, & the best investors will make 10x more than they are now. twitter.com/micsolana/stat…
Here's a meta thread of some of my favorite twitter threads, updated edition 👇
If you like Carol Dwek’s book Mindset, check out her brilliant Protégé from Stanford. twitter.com/AliaCrum/statu…
Why investing in @ShaanVP's Power Writing course was my best decision of 2021. monishkumar.com/blog/shaans-po…
When I started The Hustle I'd write articles under pen names. I wanted to look bigger than I was. But after a while I realized it was fun, created better content, and was freeing. Now, I actually think if I started a content company again, everything would be pen names
Writing some sales copy. (helping a friend w/ they're landing page). 2 reminders: • Copywriting is the most important skill in biz (and very important to life!) • I'm still really, really, really good at it :) Wanna learn? Here are some books
Never write prose when you can write poetry.
1/ Here comes the @thisisinsider hit piece on my support for the Newsom and Boudin Recalls. The bottom line is that I’m pushing to change a corrupt and dysfunctional status quo in CA, unlike a lot of these corporate journalists who are unwitting shills for the status quo. pic.twitter.com/dTozxHtOw2
